Weekly ROBLOX Roundup: May 12th, 2013

By Andrew Haak - May 12, 2013

Every week, we’re busy telling the stories behind our platform, our technology and our place in the gaming and technology industries. For those of you who catch up with ROBLOX over the weekend, the Weekly ROBLOX Roundup collects the best stuff to hit our various avenues of publication in the last week. This time: a whole bunch of dynamic lighting coverage, a day in the life of the Content Team, the development of Strobe (one of ROBLOX’s hippest games), a game-design showdown between competing FPS developers litozinnamon and Spookyfox, free gear bundled with ROBLOX cards for May, The Old Town by Aonux, and other bits and pieces. Enjoy.

Crossfire: Litozinnamon and Spookyfox Talk FPS Development

By Alan Fackler - May 11, 2013

Creativity and sharing are two qualities that fuel ROBLOX, and it’s in that spirit that we created Crossfire, a series where we chat with ROBLOX game developers about their game design choices. For this outing, we interviewed users litozinnamon and Spookyfox to compare and contrast design decisions made in their games: Call of ROBLOXia 5: ROBLOX at War, and Authority, respectively. Both are massively popular first person shooters on ROBLOX, so we jumped at the chance to discuss game design, dynamic lighting, and more with the two developers.

A Journey Through Day One of Dynamic Lighting

By Alan Fackler - May 10, 2013

This morning, I woke up, ate breakfast, then stepped into a ROBLOX that was different than it was yesterday. Alas, the release of dynamic lighting lead to a sudden surge of creative thoughts and ideas all throughout ROBLOX–and within less than 24 hours of the release, no less! Lights and shadows are everywhere. It’s like seeing ROBLOX through a new set of eyes. I decided to take a look around our dynamically lit platform and document my journey. Check out some of the places and things I saw.

Lights On: Dynamic Lighting and Shadows are Here

By Arseny Kapoulkine - May 9, 2013

No more previews, contests, or prototype videos. Today, we officially flipped the switch on dynamic lighting–and we can’t wait to see what our builders do with it. Dynamic lighting is a smart voxel solution that not only lets builders control the ambient light and resulting shadows in the worlds they create, but place customizable light sources for aesthetic and gameplay purposes. Torches, flashlights, lamps–the future is a bright one.

Get Robot-themed Hats for Redeeming ROBLOX Cards in May

By Christina McGrath - May 8, 2013

Every month, we release a new set of gear and hats you can only obtain by redeeming ROBLOX cards from particular retailers around the world. That means when you’re turning your prized red slice of ROBLOXia into Builders Club subscriptions or Robux, you’re snagging yourself some stylish virtual goods at no extra cost. We just swapped in a whole new selection of personality-rich robot-themed hats for May, and we’re sure at least one of these will push your buttons!

Members of Team Rudimentality Talk Strobe Game Development

By Alan Fackler - May 7, 2013

Sometimes we stumble across a user creation that elicits a double-take, a squint, and a what-is-that? moment. Such was the case when we first laid our eyes on Strobe, a game in early development from Team Rudimentality. Working here, I’d like to think I’ve seen my fair share of different looking titles. But this easily took the cake. Check out the screenshots below, but do yourself a favor and play the game to see it in motion. Strobe has “innovation” written all over it.

A Day in the Life of the ROBLOX Content Team

By Alan Fackler - May 6, 2013

ROBLOX is about 70 people strong, with teams specializing in everything from web and client development to customer service and marketing. While each team executes starkly contrasting projects, we’re united by our shared values and the ultimate goal of making ROBLOX the best digital-creation experience. We’re going behind the scenes with teams across ROBLOX to provide some insight into the tasks and challenges associated with achieving that goal. For our first in this series, we took an in-depth look at the ROBLOX Web Team. For this, we’ve shifted our focus to the ROBLOX Content Team.